Scientists don't agree on the causes of dyslexia, but no one disputes that its effects can be painful. The Schwab Foundation publication "Bridges to Reading" lists the following symptoms that suggest a child may have a dyslexia-related reading problem.
Preschool Years
- Begins to speak later than most children.
- Has difficulty following a story or directions.
- Pronounces words incorrectly or chooses the wrong word.
- Has difficulty rhyming.
Grades K-4
- Learns the alphabet later than classmates.
- Learns letter-sound relationships only with explicit instruction.
- Confuses basic sight words, such as run, eat, want.
- Makes consistent reading and spelling errors, including reversals (b/d), inversions (m/w) transpositions (left/felt), and substitutions (house/home).
- Transposes number sequences and confuses arithmetic signs.
Grades 5-8
- Continues to transpose letter sequences (reads "sacred" as "scared").
- Reads below grade level in stories and textbooks.
- Requires specific instruction to learn prefixes, suffixes, root words or other decoding/spelling strategies.
- Avoids reading aloud.
- Avoids writing compositions.
High School and Beyond
- Avoids reading books independently.
- Continues to spell incorrectly.
- Avoids writing whenever possible.
- Finds unique ways to cope with reading and writing tasks.
For further information on dyslexia and other types of learning difficulties, contact the Schwab Foundation for Learning at (800) 230-0988.
